School Notes: Yale Divinity School
November/December 2023

Ground broken for living-building residence hall

The Divinity School was scheduled to break ground October 11 on the Living Village, a living-building residence hall that will house 51 students in a complex designed to give back to the environment more than it takes. Planned to meet the exacting standards of the Living Building Challenge, the project aims to make a moral and theological statement about the need for constructing buildings in harmony with nature in a time of climate crisis. The facility is scheduled to open in August 2025, with additional units planned in a second phase of construction. A key component of Yale’s Planetary Solutions initiative, the Living Village “will be a landmark in environmental design on a university campus and set an example for schools around the world,” Yale president Peter Salovey said. More information about the project can be found at livingvillage.yale.edu. 

Exploring effects of artificial intelligence on religion

In a new episode of the Divinity School podcast, Divinity School professor John Pittard is calling attention to the significant ethical challenges posed by artificial intelligence and its threats to religion and spirituality. In his interview for the YDS Quadcast, Pittard, associate professor of philosophy of religion, addresses whether it’s sacrilegious to incorporate AI into religion practice and discusses the important role religious thinkers and communities can play in shaping the artificial intelligence race. The episode can be found in the news area of the Divinity School website. 

Onetime Yale chaplain to lead social work program

Former Yale University chaplain Frederick “Jerry” Streets ’75MDiv has been appointed to lead the social work joint-degree program that YDS operates with the University of Connecticut. A social worker and longtime adjunct faculty at YDS, and the former senior pastor of New Haven’s Dixwell Avenue Congregational Church, Streets assumes the new title of adjunct associate professor of divinity and social work. His new position is supported by a state initiative, CT Health Horizons, aimed at addressing shortages of nurses and social workers in Connecticut.